


more than blood

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, Complicated Mother Daughter Relationship, F/M, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 15:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7898113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe has an unexpected run in with Caitlin's mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	more than blood

**Author's Note:**

> For the one million words weekend challenge, Anne Rice sentences. 
> 
> "The cold glint of recognition in her eyes" was my snippet.

Jitters was, as always, crowded at this time of the evening, a time where some stopped for coffee on their way home, when others, like Joe and his Captain, had stopped in on their way back to the precinct for a fun filled hour or so of paperwork. Which Joe wasn't exactly looking forward to, for all the reasons usually associated with paperwork and because it was family game night tonight and he'd much rather be getting ready for that. 

Still, when the boss suggested a coffee stop-off, Joe wasn't stupid enough to say no. He'd seen Singh when he was denied caffeine, it wasn't pretty. 

He stopped in his tracks when they walked into Jitters and a familiar looking woman was just approaching the door from the other direction. She stopped too when she saw them, saw Joe, and Singh took one look at her and his eyes widened with what Joe would guess was a dead on guess as to who he was, given the conversation that Singh had overheard between him and Barry earlier. He barely broke stride, clapping Joe on the shoulder and heading for the counter, leaving Joe standing there. 

"Doctor Tannhauser." 

He kept the greeting polite, respectful, but Carla looked him up and down, a curl of disdain on her lips and the cold glint of recognition in her eyes. "I know you," she said. "You were in my daughter's apartment last night." 

The words might have seemed benign enough but the tone was anything but and Joe found himself bristling. Years of police experience dealing with people meant he didn't show it outwardly, simply nodded. "Yes I was."

He didn't say anything more but he didn't move either, left it to Carla if she wanted to continue the encounter. She looked him up and down again, arched an eyebrow. "So I take it you're involved?"

It was phrased as a question. Joe was well aware it was nothing of the sort. "We are." There was no point denying it, but he still didn't particularly want to be having this conversation without Caitlin present. Then again, he didn't particularly want to be having this conversation at all. "But I think you should talk to Caitlin about that." 

Carla's laugh was vaguely mocking, scornful even. "I think if you knew my daughter half as well as you should, considering what you're doing with her, you'd know that isn't very likely." 

With a toss of her hair, she stepped past him and continued on her way, leaving only a draught of perfume and a sense of confusion in her wake as Joe tried - and failed - to count up the ways he was pretty sure he'd just been insulted. 

He was still standing, mildly stupefied, when Singh appeared at his side, thrust a cardboard cup of coffee into his hand. "Was that who I think it was?" There was a broad grin on his face and he sounded amused, which told Joe that this wasn't Captain Singh speaking. Rather it was David, his friend and ex-partner, which meant Joe didn't have to stand on ceremony around him. 

"Caitlin's mom," he confirmed and David actually laughed. The bastard. 

"And the mother-in-law jokes start in three... two..." 

Joe shot him a distinctly unamused look that he never would have got away with in the precinct. To his credit, David recognised it immediately, clamped his lips shut. He couldn't stop the twitch though, which may have been why he raised his coffee cup to his lips. "She and Caitlin don't exactly get along," Joe told him. "I'm not sure what the story is there." Which bothered him more than he cared to admit, considering all the secrets he'd so carefully kept in his lifetime from those closest to him. 

David tilted his head, reading the situation easily. "And you're thinking Caitlin shacking up with a blue collar detective twenty years her senior who also happens to be black isn't going to help matters."

The coffee scalded Joe's throat going down and he tried not to choke. "The first two thirds, yes." The last part hadn't even occurred to him and David grimaced. 

"Don't be surprised," he said, brow furrowing. "Rob's got an uncle who didn't care if he was gay, to each their own, who am I to judge et cetera, et cetera." His grip tightened on his cup, his jaw tightening too. "Until the day Rob brought me along to a family dinner." He shook his head. "He's never talked to him since."

"So what you're telling me is I potentially have new and different ways to screw up Caitlin's relationship with her mom. Good to know." 

David shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly. "Look, I'm probably reading things that aren't there. But don't forget, I've met Caitlin Snow." He pursed his lips, chuckled as if he was remembering it. "And if her mom's on her bad side? I'm betting she's got a pretty good reason for it." 

Joe side-eyed him. "Is this where you point out that I should be talking to Caitlin instead of you?"

Singh grinned. "Why, Joseph, you catch on quick. We'll make a decent partner of you yet." 

Joe pondered for a moment if he should ask just what sort of conversations David and Caitlin have actually been having, then decided that even if they had been talking about him, David wouldn't actually tell him. He'd just use it as another way to bust Joe's chops, something he took great delight in doing whenever no-one else was around. The guy really needed a hobby. Of course, this was also a way of getting Joe out of whatever paperwork might be waiting for him back at the precinct and like going for coffee when the boss had a craving, Joe wasn't stupid enough to pass that up.  "I'll see you tomorrow," he said instead and David held up his coffee in salute as Joe walked out. 

*

He might have been home earlier than he expected but he was still the last one to arrive for game night, something that his kids didn't let him forget for a second.  

"Nice of you to join us." Iris's voice was teasing, her lips curled in a smile and on the couch beside her, Barry raised both hands high in the air. 

"Let it be known, please, that I, for once, was not last to arrive?"

"Yeah, only because I dragged you out of the lab." Cisco threw a kernel of popcorn across the room at him and blithely ignored Iris's glare at him, which Joe knew was more to do with the popcorn on the carpet than any girlfriendly loyalty. 

He didn't pay too much attention to the teasing, instead let his eyes scan the room until they fell on the one person he wanted to see. As usual, the moment he saw her, he wanted to smile and he did, but considering his earlier encounter, not quite as much as usual. Caitlin noticed it too, her eyes narrowing slightly as she frowned, tilted her head in question. He inclined his head towards the kitchen. "Can we talk?" 

Caitlin didn't say a word as she nodded, just got to her feet and walked towards him. It was Cisco who, characteristically, made a joke about it, even as Iris and Barry looked at him curiously, while Wally and Jesse looked up as if they'd just realised he was there. "Not too much canoodling, you two," Cisco called. "I have been reading the dictionary all day for my Boggle rematch with Miss West here and I won't be denied!"

Laughter followed them as Joe took Caitlin's hand in his and only when the kitchen door closed behind them did she turn to him, smiling. "He's not kidding about the dictionary," she told him, sliding her arms around his waist. "But I also know that's not your canoodling face." She was teasing him and he felt a little of the tension drain from his shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I was in Jitters today," he told her, resting his hands on her shoulders for a moment before running them down her back. "And I ran into your mom." 

He felt her entire body stiffen as her lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes glittered dangerously, all traces of humour gone. "What did she say?" 

"Not much. She asked if we were involved; I said yes but that she should talk to you..." 

Her humourless snicker cut him off. "I can imagine what she said to that." 

That was enough to make Joe certain he didn't want to tell her the absolute particulars. Instead, he went with, "She didn't seem too impressed." 

At that, she actually did laugh. "I'll add it to the list of my life choices that she's not happy about." She didn't sound upset about it but that didn't make Joe any happier. It must have shown on his face too because Caitlin blinked, then frowned. "You're really worried about this." 

He couldn't deny it, didn't even try. "She's your family." 

Caitlin pressed her lips together, even as the edges turned up in a smile. Her hands came up and around to rest on his chest as she leaned in and brushed her lips over his. "You're very sweet." 

A sigh then and she stepped away from him. "My mother and I have always had a complicated relationship. She was always working... very driven... she was cold, didn't show a lot of emotion..." He gave her a look and she smiled, shook her head. "And yes, I am aware that those are accusations that have often been levelled at me..."

"Not lately." He reached out and laced her fingers through his because it happened to be true. 

Her smile took on a grateful tinge. "I think she always hoped I'd join her company. But I didn't want to be her daughter my whole life, I didn't want to have my career founded by nepotism... and then Harrison Wells came along, offered me STAR Labs..."

Joe nodded. "And the moon and the stars..."

"She wasn't happy. And after the explosion..." She shuddered, the memory still painful even now.  "One of the first things she said to me? 'You can always come to my lab.'"

Caitlin grimaced as she spoke, but as a parent, Joe saw it differently. "Maybe that was her way of helping you."

Her head to one side, Caitlin considered it. "Maybe. But then... Wells called me. Told me there was a man in hospital who'd been struck by lightning. Someone we could save." She said it with an odd cadence to her voice and it was Joe's turn to shudder as he realised that she was quoting what the fake Wells had said to her. "And I thought about what I'd always wanted to do. To help people. And I wanted STAR Labs to do some good... to make up for..." She stopped talking, eyes bright with sudden tears. After a moment, she continued, "So I went to the hospital. Met Barry. Met you." She squeezed his fingers. "And now here we are."

"Yeah." His voice was quiet as he tugged at her hand, pulling her back into his arms. "Here we are." 

He kept their hands joined and her free hand came up over his heart as his moved to the small of her back. His thumb swept a path up and down as her fingers played with the buttons of his shirt, her eyes never leaving his. "I get that you're worried," she told him quietly. "And I love you for that. But you of all people should know... family isn't just about blood. You, everyone in that room in there... you're my family. If my mom accepts my choices, great. If she doesn't... I'm still ok." 

One look at her told Joe that she meant what she said so he nodded. "You know," he said, "you can talk to me about this stuff.  When you want to. If you want to." 

Her smile was beautiful, brilliant even. "I know," she said. "And I will. When they're not waiting." 

She inclined her head towards the living room, even took a step in that direction but he was faster, moved to intercept her and moved her backwards so that her back was against the closed door, her chest against his. Standing this close together, he couldn't help but notice how her breath quickened and her pupils dilated as she bit her bottom lip. "I say, let them wait," he said, bringing his lips to hers. 

She didn't argue. 


End file.
